Enhancing Community Development with Seven Towers of Community

CORE Foundation with Community Mountain’s Seven Towers of Community, integrates key features from many well-established community development models, creating a holistic, adaptable framework for building strong, sustainable, and inclusive communities. Below is a commentary on how this approach aligns with these existing models:

1. Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD)

• Enhancement: The ABCD model would benefit greatly from Community Mountain's platform by turning its traditional inventory of assets into actionable, measurable activities. The platform’s case management system can track how community assets are mobilized, who is involved, and the outcomes of these actions, making it easier to assess long-term impacts.
• Specialization: Fellowship and Governance and Civic Engagement towers could specialize in organizing assets, connecting individuals and organizations, and providing data to assess community impact.

2. Collective Impact Model

• Enhancement: Community Mountain's platform provides the structure necessary for multiple stakeholders to collaborate seamlessly across sectors. By tracking activities, outcomes, and ongoing communication, the platform ensures that all parties are aligned toward shared goals and outcomes.
• Specialization: The Governance and Civic Engagement and Workforce and Economic Development towers can specialize in facilitating cross-sector collaboration, shared goals, and data-driven decision-making.

3. Sustainable Livelihoods Framework (SLF)

• Enhancement: The SLF model can be enhanced by the platform’s ability to track individual and community access to various forms of capital (e.g., human, social, financial). The platform can show how community resources are applied and whether they are leading to sustainable livelihood outcomes.
• Specialization: The Workforce and Economic Development and Healthcare towers could focus on measuring improvements in employment, income, health, and social support systems, enabling sustainable livelihoods.

4. The Ecological Model of Community Development

• Enhancement: Community Mountain’s platform can provide data on how social, economic, and environmental factors interact within the community. This data can help identify how various interventions are improving or harming the balance within the community ecosystem.
• Specialization: Healthcare, Arts and Culture, and Sports and Recreation towers could specialize in improving environmental health, physical well-being, and community identity through data-driven initiatives that reflect this ecological interconnectedness.

5. Whole Systems Approach

• Enhancement: The Seven Towers model is already aligned with the Whole Systems Approach, and the Community Mountain platform strengthens this by providing a data-driven infrastructure that ensures interconnected solutions are tracked and measured across sectors.
• Specialization: All towers are naturally integrated here, but a specialization in the Education tower could focus on learning outcomes related to cross-sector collaboration, while Fellowship tracks social cohesion.

6. Social Capital Model

• Enhancement: The platform enhances the Social Capital Model by making connections between individuals, organizations, and groups more visible and measurable. The platform’s data collection helps demonstrate how social capital improves outcomes in other areas like economic development, healthcare, and civic engagement.
• Specialization: The Fellowship and Governance and Civic Engagement towers would specialize in measuring the value and impact of social networks, trust, and collaboration.

7. Community Capitals Framework (CCF)

• Enhancement: The platform allows the CCF to track the growth and utilization of all seven types of capital—natural, cultural, human, social, political, financial, and built. The Seven Towers naturally align with these capitals, and Community Mountain provides the mechanism for tracking and analyzing their impact.
• Specialization: The Healthcare, Education, and Workforce and Economic Development towers could specialize in leveraging and increasing human, social, and financial capital for sustainable community outcomes.

8. Healthy Communities Model

• Enhancement: The Healthy Communities model can be enhanced by using the platform’s case management system to track health interventions, resource allocation, and the social determinants of health. The data collected helps identify gaps in healthcare and social services while showing how well-being is improving over time.
• Specialization: The Healthcare and Sports and Recreation towers would specialize in promoting physical and mental health, access to healthcare services, and community well-being.

9. Empowerment and Participatory Development Models

• Enhancement: The platform supports the Empowerment and Participatory Development models by giving community members a voice and the ability to track their contributions to community improvement. The case management system ensures      that their efforts and inputs are documented, and outcomes are measured.
• Specialization: The Governance and Civic Engagement and Fellowship towers could specialize in fostering participatory decision-making, community empowerment, and leadership development.

10. Inclusive Cities Framework

• Enhancement: Community Mountain’s platform allows the Inclusive Cities model to track how accessible services, resources, and opportunities are distributed within the community. It highlights disparities and measures how interventions are improving inclusivity and access.
• Specialization: The Governance and Civic Engagement and Workforce and Economic Development towers could focus on tracking equity, inclusivity, and accessibility, ensuring marginalized groups are represented.

11. Smart Cities Model

• Enhancement: Community Mountain’s Community Media or Community Networking approach completes the Smart Cities model by adding depth to technology-driven development with community-driven, data-centric solutions. The platform allows for real-time tracking of how urban systems are benefiting individuals and the community as a whole, adding a layer of      measurable impact.
• Specialization: All towers could contribute, but Governance and Civic Engagement and Workforce and Economic Development could focus on real-time data-driven insights that improve urban planning, transportation, and public services.

12. Community Resilience Model

• Enhancement: The Community Resilience model benefits from the platform’s ability to track community resources and responses to crises. The platform can document how communities adapt to challenges, recover, and apply resources      effectively to increase resilience.
• Specialization: The Healthcare and Fellowship towers could specialize in promoting physical, mental, and social resilience, while the Governance and Civic Engagement tower tracks community preparedness and response efforts.

13. Place-Based Community Development

• Enhancement: Community Mountain’s platform allows for targeted data collection in specific geographic areas, showing how interventions affect those communities over time. The platform’s data-driven approach can help identify unique challenges and opportunities within each place, ensuring development is locally relevant.
• Specialization: The Workforce and Economic Development and Fellowship towers could focus on place-based solutions, tracking local employment opportunities, social services, and resources.

14. Livable Cities Model

• Enhancement: The platform can track and measure how various elements of the Livable Cities model—such as transportation, housing, and green spaces—are impacting residents’ quality of life. It allows cities to assess how livable they are and identify areas for improvement.
• Specialization: The Sports and Recreation, Healthcare, and Governance and Civic Engagement towers would focus on tracking livability metrics like physical well-being, access to public spaces, and resident engagement.

15. Human Development Model

• Enhancement: Community Mountain’s platform tracks the factors that contribute to human well-being, such as education, healthcare, and employment, providing a comprehensive way to measure progress in human development.
• Specialization: The Education and Healthcare towers could specialize in tracking educational attainment, health outcomes, and individual empowerment.

16. Social Entrepreneurship Model

• Enhancement: The platform could track social enterprises and the outcomes of their work, offering a clear understanding of how these organizations are addressing community issues. This data could demonstrate the financial sustainability of socially driven businesses and their impact.
• Specialization: The Workforce and Economic Development tower could specialize in promoting and tracking the success of social enterprises and their contributions to community well-being. 

Summary

The integration of the Seven Towers of Community using CORE Foundation creates a comprehensive and adaptable framework that incorporates essential elements from several established community development models. This hybrid approach ensures that the needs of communities are addressed holistically—socially, economically, environmentally, and culturally—while fostering long-term resilience and sustainability. Through its structured yet flexible towers, the model provides a scalable foundation for communities to thrive, whether on a local, regional, or global scale. By leveraging these different models, the CORE Foundation is well-positioned to create thriving, well-rounded communities that address the needs of all residents.